


Hear No Evil

by PalmettoFoxDen



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Canon divergence - Kevin and Neil both spend their holiday in the Nest, Deaf Kevin, Kevin's the main focus but also there's slow burn KevAaron, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 05:02:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13629159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalmettoFoxDen/pseuds/PalmettoFoxDen
Summary: Kevin was supposed to be safe with the Foxes, or at least safer than he had been in a long time. Instead, Riko managed to take one last thing from Kevin when he and Neil spent the holiday break in Castle Evermore. Now, Kevin isn't sure how to navigate his team, let alone the court.





	Hear No Evil

Kevin followed Neil in a sort of daze without anything really registering. When Neil pulled out his phone, Kevin sat down on the sidewalk outside of the airport. None of this felt real. He still didn’t believe he had escaped the Nest for a second time. He still didn’t believe the cost it had come at.

Kevin had been separated from Neil for almost their entire stay at Castle Evermore. He didn’t know what had happened to Neil beyond the damage he could see and he hoped that Neil’s injuries were less permanent than his felt. He'd had no way to ask Neil about it on the flight back though, so he had just stared out the window.

The point of making Neil go to Evermore was to try to sign him and mold him into the property that he always should have been. The point of hurting him was to remind him of his father and to make him look like him. That much was clear just from one look at Neil. But with Kevin, Riko's torture had been revenge for Kevin leaving him.

Kevin had thought he was safe with the Foxes, or at least as safe as he could ever hope to be anymore. But then when Andrew wasn’t there to protect him, Riko managed to take one last thing away from Kevin.

_If you won’t listen to me, then you won’t listen to anyone anymore._

That was the last thing Kevin had heard before Riko took his hearing from him. Those were the last words Kevin would _ever_ hear.

Kevin watched Neil until he hung up the phone and sat down on the sidewalk a few feet away from him. It seemed like they were going to be there for a while, so Kevin pulled his knees up and crossed his arms over them to make a pillow. He buried his face in his arms in an effort to rest his eyes while he waited for whoever Neil had called to show up.

Kevin was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and he just wanted to take a break from thinking. If only it was that easy.

It was too quiet. Kevin had been in and around a lot of airports and never before had he heard an utter lack of sound like this outside of one. He hated how silent it was. He wasn’t used to it. He didn’t think that he would _ever_ get used to it.

He didn’t hear when someone approached him, so he nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder without warning. His heart was hammering in his chest, but he managed to calm down a little when he lifted his head and saw Wymack looking down at him with concern in his eyes.

Kevin's relief that Wymack was there only lasted for a moment before the panic seeped back in when Wymack said something to him, but Kevin could not tell what. Coach had probably been talking to him for a while before he even touched him, especially considering the way Neil was staring at him too. Kevin hadn't even noticed when Neil had stood up. He just sat on the sidewalk and stared back at them.

Wymack turned to Neil and said something. Neil said something back. Kevin forced himself up on shaky legs since he figured it was probably time to head to the car.

When he got into the passenger seat of Wymack's car, Kevin could feel the vibration that told him the engine was running, but there was a horrifying lack of sound in the vehicle. Kevin felt sick. He wasn’t sure how he was going to make it through the ride back to the dorms or Wymack’s apartment. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen once they got wherever they were going, so he just rested his head against the window and tried to sleep.

Sleep was the only way Kevin could get his brain to shut off lately and that was only when he was lucky enough to get in a few hours of sleep without nightmares.

Five minutes into the drive, Kevin remembered seeing Wymack’s phone in the cupholder and his eyes shot open. The phone was locked, but that wasn’t a problem. Kevin typed in the passcode, the same one the team used to access the court, and he opened the notes app with shaking fingers. Wymack’s eyes felt heavy on him as he typed quickly.

_I can’t hear_.

Kevin passed the phone back to Neil in the backseat and craned his neck to watch his reaction. Neil looked horrified as his lips began to move. He must have read Kevin’s message out loud because a second later, the car swerved and Wymack slammed on the brakes so abruptly that Kevin’s seat belt slammed against his bruised chest in a way that made him let out a pained noise that he knew he made, even though he did not hear it.

Kevin looked to Wymack, wondering if he was trying to kill them all with his reckless driving, and Wymack stared at him for a long moment before he said something again. A few seconds later, Wymack was typing on the phone Neil had handed back to him. Kevin watched Coach's thumbs moving and tried to ignore the weight of Neil’s stare on him as he waited. Coach held the phone up for Kevin to read the screen and the phone was shaking, but Kevin couldn’t tell if it was from worry or anger.

_What happened?_

Typing out a big long answer of exactly what had happened to him wasn’t going to help anything. That wouldn't bring Kevin's hearing back and thinking about what had happened for too long was too much to bear. Kevin was sure Wymack already knew the answer, but he took the phone and typed it anyway.

_Riko._

Wymack took the phone back and typed quickly before he handed it to Kevin to hold.

_I’m taking you to a doctor._

* * *

Wymack kept trying to convince Neil to see a doctor too, but Neil did not trust strange doctors and nurses enough to let them see his scars. He hurt all over and it was going to take a while for him to heal, but the pain really wasn’t  _that bad_ now that he had a chair to sit down in. He was going to be fine without seeing any doctors, so there was no need to sit through doctors and their questions he didn’t want to answer. His wounds were nothing that he and Abby wouldn’t be able to control without the help of meddling doctors. Neil and his mother had never gone to a hospital while they were on the run, even when Neil had been shot and even when his mother was bleeding out. Neil wasn’t about to fill out false paperwork and paint an even bigger target on his back now. They were here for Kevin and that was it. Neil would heal. It wasn't clear if Kevin would.

Wymack glanced at his watch yet again. It was a nervous habit he had perfected since they had gotten here and it was only making Neil more nervous.  Clearly, Neil wasn’t the only one that was getting antsy while Kevin was in with the doctor. The hospital made Neil’s skin crawl and being in public with this tattoo on his face only made things worse. He couldn’t wait until Kevin was done with the doctor so they could leave.

Kevin's phone had already been dead at the airport, so he had taken Wymack’s phone with him so he could type out what he wanted to say to the doctor and communicate back and forth that way. Wymack had borrowed Neil’s phone to call Abby and let her know that Kevin had gotten in to see a doctor, but the battery had died mid-call. Now, it was just Wymack and Neil alone and waiting for what felt like an eternity.

“You had no idea he couldn’t hear?” Wymack asked.

Neil had thought that the silence had been unbearable, but this might be worse.

“Not until he typed it out,” Neil confirmed.

“There were no signs? Not on the plane?”

“We were always separate, except during practices,” Neil said. “I thought he just shut down and wasn’t responding. I didn’t think he couldn’t hear.”

There was a pause and then Wymack asked, “You’re sure you’re okay?”

_Yet again_.

“I’m fine,” Neil insisted. “You don’t have to keep asking me that.”

“I’ll quit asking you when you give me a real answer instead of that ‘I’m fine’ bullshit,” Wymack told him.

Neil sighed and then admitted, “Fine. I’m not fine, but I will be. All of this will heal. Kevin won’t.”

Wymack’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t deny what they were both already thinking. Kevin wasn’t going to get his hearing back. Riko would have made sure of that, especially since Kevin had recovered from his smashed hand enough to play again after Riko’s last attempt at benching him. This time, Riko would have made absolutely sure that Kevin would never be able to play better than him again.

Andrew was going to kill Neil. He had trusted Neil with Kevin and Neil had blown it.  Kevin was deaf and Neil had failed Andrew and Kevin both. He didn’t deserve Wymack’s concern. He had brought this on all of them. He should never have joined the Foxes. He should never have let Andrew talk him into staying. He should have run when Kevin told him to after the first banquet. But now it was too late for all of that and Neil was going to have to stay and live with the consequences for as long as he could. He wished Kevin didn't have to live with the consequences of his actions too, but this wasn't something Neil could fix.

* * *

Kevin had not felt this miserable in a long time. Not since Riko had smashed his hand.

He was standing next to a couch in the Fox lounge and the rest of the team was here, with the one clear exception of Andrew. Wymack had gathered them together to tell them all what had happened to Neil and Kevin over the holiday break. Kevin couldn't hear just how much Coach explained or his team's responses.

Their reaction to Neil’s appearance were immediate and horrified. There were a lot of mouths moving and Kevin was completely lost while the Foxes all seemed to talk over top of each other, but he heard nothing. He could tell the exact moment Wymack told them he had permanently lost his hearing though because every head in the room whipped around to stare at him at the exact same moment. Shock and horror covered his teammate’s faces. Nicky looked like he wasn’t sure if he was going to start crying or if he was going to be sick.

They were talking again, looking at Wymack and asking him questions or saying something, but he couldn’t hear any of it and it was frustrating beyond belief. They were talking way too much for him to follow, even if they had been writing it down for him, which they weren’t. No one was writing  _anything_ down for him. Kevin couldn’t lip read and he didn’t know sign language yet. He had never felt so isolated in his whole life. At least in the Nest, he had been able to hear when others talked about him or to him.

Kevin wished Andrew was there. He hated not being able to hear when someone was standing near him or talking to him. He felt even more defenseless now. He was cut off from his team, terrified, and alone and he had no idea how he was ever going to play again. He had to play again though. Exy was his life. He was nothing without it.

Last night, he had tried talking to Wymack about whether he would be able to play again or not, but Wymack refused to have that conversation. He only wanted to talk about whether Kevin was alright or not, as if whether or not Kevin was alright was not directly linked to whether or not he would be able to play again.

The team asked questions (or argued or yelled or whatever it was they were saying without him) for a while longer and then Wymack ended the meeting. The upperclassmen checked on Neil and then Renee came over and set her hand on Kevin’s shoulder for a moment before they all left together. Kevin was relieved when they went because he had no idea how to respond to Renee's contact.

After they were gone, Nicky pulled Neil into a hug that was much too tight, judging by the way Neil winced and Nicky pulled back urgently. When Nicky hugged Kevin a moment later, he seemed much more careful after Neil’s reaction. Kevin couldn’t help but think that Nicky thought of him as breakable now. Then again, maybe Nicky had always thought of him as a little breakable after the conditions they had met under when he had fled from the Ravens with a bloodied and broken hand.

Aaron didn’t try to hug either of them. He didn’t say anything to Neil or try to say anything to Kevin that he wouldn’t hear anyway. He just stood back and waited for Nicky to be done and when he was, Aaron said something brief to Nicky.

Nicky, Aaron, and Neil headed for the door then and Kevin followed them. He only stopped for long enough to turn and give Wymack a nod on their way out.

* * *

None of them really knew what to do with Kevin now that he couldn't hear. They didn’t know sign language, and even if they did Kevin wouldn’t understand it anyway, so the only way to communicate with Kevin was by writing things down or typing them out which did not make for very easy conversations.

On the way back to Fox Tower, Nicky kept talking to Kevin without thinking, as if he still expected Kevin to answer him. Aaron thought maybe a part of Nicky still did and thought that if he talked enough, Kevin would give and reveal that this was all just part of some horrific joke.

Aaron was used to Nicky filling the silence to try to lighten the mood and fix things, but this was not a problem that Nicky could fix with talking.

When they got out of the car and Nicky seemed to remember that Kevin couldn’t hear him, he pulled out his phone and texted him instead. He still didn't stop nervous babbling the whole way up the stairs though. Aaron understood that Nicky was just trying to help, but he was only making things even more awkward than they already were.

When they reached the third floor, Neil went back to his own dorm, so that left Aaron and Nicky with Kevin. They didn’t know what to do or how to navigate this new dynamic, so they decided to watch a movie because that was an easy way to spend the next few hours with Kevin. Nicky put the subtitles on for him, but Kevin missed parts and got confused and by the time he typed out a question and one of them saw his text, he had missed even more of the movie. Aaron didn't realize how frustrated Kevin was getting until halfway through the movie Kevin got up and went over to his desk.

Nicky typed out a text as he told Aaron, "I'm asking if he wants to do something else or if he wants us to pause and wait for him."

It was a moment before Kevin's phone buzzed and he read the message. He glanced back at them for a moment and then typed out an answer. He set his phone down on the desk as Nicky read his response out loud for Aaron.

"No. I need to study."

"Study what?" Aaron asked. "Classes haven't even started yet."

Nicky sighed and put his phone back in his pocket, "I don't know. Maybe he has to catch up on exy stats he missed?"

Aaron thought Nicky was probably right and dropped it as Nicky unpaused the TV, but when he looked over at what Kevin was doing a few minutes later, he saw that he had a window open that was supposed to teach him ASL.

They finished the rest of the movie while Kevin studied on his laptop. Afterwards, Nicky texted Kevin to ask whether he was hungry or not, but Kevin said no.

Nicky stood up and looked over Kevin’s shoulder at what he was doing, then glanced back at Aaron again and said, “We should learn ASL too. It’ll make things easier.”

Aaron wasn’t sure if Nicky meant that it would make things easier for Kevin or would make it easier for them to be around Kevin. He didn’t ask.

“We can probably borrow his laptop later when he drags Neil to the court so they can stare longingly at it together,” Aaron responded.

“ _Hey_ ,” Nicky warned like there was any chance that Kevin would hear him and be offended by the comment.

Aaron would have said it, even if Kevin could hear, though. Kevin had stared at the court longingly every single day when his hand had been broken. Aaron doubted that he was going to mourn the court any less now than he had then.

“Do you think Coach told him he’s not allowed to practice yet?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t know,” Nicky said. “But he has to have figured it out by now. Right?”


End file.
